Ingredients you would likely include in a traditional Irish
breakfast are bacon, sausages, black and white pudding, fried or scrambled
eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, and potato bread or wheaten bread.
This has become my family’s traditional St. Patrick’s Day
feast. It’s easy, extremely Irish, and there aren’t too many ingredients you
have to worry about picking up over the weekend. You can put it in the crockpot
and leave it to simmer all day. Then you can come home to the smells of cooked
brisket. Yum. Instead of fooling with the poundies, you could throw some small
potatoes in the crockpot to simmer, too. We're potato people so we usually add more potatoes than the recipe calls for. Also, being Southern in addition to Irish, I usually serve it with cornbread. Here’s a recipe very similar to the
one I used last year:
Ingredients you’ll need: 2 stalks halved celery, 4 carrots, 1 medium onion cut into
4 wedges, 4 to 6 red potatoes quartered, 1 4-pound corned beef brisket, 12-ounce
bottle stout or dark ale, 1 tablespoon corned beef spices or pickling spices
(or spices that come with the brisket), 1 medium head cabbage cut into 6 wedges.
Directions: Place celery,
carrots, onion and potatoes in the bottom of a large slow-cooker or crock pot.
Rinse the corned beef brisket and place over vegetables. Add the bottle of
stout, spices and enough water to just cover the meat. Cover and cook on LOW
for eight to nine hours. Remove the meat and vegetables from the pot and cover
with foil to keep warm. Increase heat to high and cook cabbage until softened
but still crispy, 20 to 30 minutes. Slice brisket across the grain, serve with
vegetables, mustard and horseradish sauce. Pass extra cooking liquid at the
table.
I’ve read many books set in Ireland and something I’ve noticed
that is mentioned quite often besides the pub music and peat fires is the
bread. If you love bread or are a bread maker (unlike me), here’s a recipe to
get you going:
Ingredients you’ll need: 2-lb of plain flour, 1 teaspoon of
salt, 1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, and 1 pint of buttermilk.
Directions: Preheat the oven to 425 °F. Mix ingredients into
a bowl adding enough buttermilk to soften the dough. Turn out the dough on a
lightly floured cutting board, knead lightly and shape into a round loaf. Lightly
butter a baking tray and place the shaped dough onto the tray careful using a
knife to create a cross shape on top. Bake the soda bread between 20-30 minutes
and serve warm by cutting the bread into slices. As suggested serve Soda Bread
as part of an Irish traditional breakfast but can also be used as part of any
morning breakfast. There are variations of the Irish soda bread recipe with
some including adding rolled oats or using a beaten egg to glaze the top of the
soda bread.
The great thing about the Irish stew is that it’s a very
hearty meal but, in terms of money, it won’t set you back much. Like the traditional
Irish breakfast, an Irish stew varies from home to home but is always very
simple. If you don’t have your own stew recipe for St. Patrick’s Day, here’s
one for you:
Ingredients you’ll need: 2 large onions, 4 large Carrots, ½
stewing steak / mince or lamb, 8 large potatoes, and salt and pepper to taste.
Directions: Wash and cut onions
into moderate size chunks and add to the pot. Wash carrots and cut into chunks.
Wash and peel the potatoes (spuds) then cut each one in half. Slice the meat
into smaller pieces. If using stewing mince roll into meatballs. Get a large
pot and fill it with water. Add the potatoes and meat. Heat pot until water
boils then add carrots and onions. Keep on a low boil and stir every now and
then until vegetables are cooked. Serve it hot. Cooking time for the
Irish stew should be approximately 60 minutes or when the meat is fully cooked
and the potatoes are soft inside (check using a fork).
For more details on how to make these Irish recipes or for
more ideas for your St. Patrick’s Day feast, visit this traditional Irish website!
Tune in tomorrow for the exciting Day 3 of All Things Irish here at the ol’ blog! There might be some hot Irish men hanging about…. ;)
